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A turn to warmer weather following a winter of heavy snowfall has many Saskatchewan residents wondering how their basements will fare in the spring melt.

"This was actually a slough before they built anything on it," George Gibson, a resident of the aptly named Marsh Crescent in Regina, told CBC News Thursday about the development history of his neighbourhood. "They just filled it in and they put dirt on it and packed it down and they built houses on it."

Gibson has lived on Marsh Crescent for 43 years and it has been flooded out in the past.

"You had people in a canoe [on the street], paddling with a canoe," Gibson recalled from one particularly bad year.

He also remembers a metre of water in his basement and neighbours with water up to their basement ceilings.

Ten years ago the city installed newer — and larger — sewer lines which solved the flooding problem.

Nevertheless, Gibson takes steps to floodproof his home every spring.

"People will still get a flood ... if they don't take proper precautions," Gibson said. He pays particular attention to snow buildup and downspouts. "But it's not as bad ... it's 100 percent better than it used to be."